National Lottery Statistics Show €90m In Unclaimed Winnings

The latest figures released by the National Lottery have revealed that some €90 million in prizes and jackpots have gone unclaimed over the past five years.

Nearly €17 million in prizes went uncollected last year alone and remains in the accounts of the National Lottery.

Among the unclaimed windfalls in 2011 was a €250,000 Lotto Plus 2 prize, sold in Gorey, Co Wexford, in April.

There were also several smaller, albeit significant, amounts including two unclaimed Lotto Match 5 + bonus prizes for €25,000 each.

A National Lottery spokeswoman said the total amount of unclaimed prize money is usually about 2 per cent of total sales or turnover.

Winners have a 90-day period in which to collect their prizes after the announced end of the game, when this elapses they forfeit any right to the prize.

Unclaimed prize money is used by the National Lottery to promote various games and draws.

A €1 million “top-up” added to the recent May Bank Holiday draw was financed by unclaimed prize money.

The largest unclaimed prize on record was for a €3.4 million jackpot from June 30th, 2001. The winning ticket was sold in Coolock, Dublin 5. Despite a campaign to find the winner on 2FM’s Gerry Ryan Show, no-one ever came forward.

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